Who was that masked man?

9 June 2011 Leave a comment

Does knowing  nothing more about who is behind a statement than the words a person uses to express themselves make online pronouncements more or less reliable?

On one hand, not knowing anything about who is blogging or tweating beyond the sometimes very limited information about themselves that they choose to make known to you is a good thing. It forces the ideas expressed to stand or fall on their own merit, without bias or prejudgments about who is stating them.

On the other hand, if I know nothing about whether the more-or-less anonymous author has any relevent knowledge, expertise or background, how do I know if his or her well intentioned advice is credible? Particularly, if the post is highly critical, I have no clues as to any particular biases or agenda they bring to the issue. 

Read more in my guest blog on ASAE’s Acronym: “There are no ribbons in cyberspace.”

Filed under Social Media & Associations Tagged with

About Mark J. Golden, FASAE, CAE
Mark J. Golden, FASAE, CAE, is Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, which provides global leadership advancing the practice and profession of clinical laboratory science and medicine. He previously served as Executive Director and CEO of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) in Alexandria, Virginia. as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), Vienna, Virginia and in leadership roles with the Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA), Washington, D.C. and the Association of Telemessaging Services International (ATSI), Alexandria, Virginia. Long active in the association community, Mr. Golden is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center for Association Leadership, a past Vice Chairman of the ASAE Board of Directors, past Chair of the Center for Association Leadership’s Research Committee, and past member of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce's Association Committee of 100. He is the 2011 recipient of the American Society of Association Executive's Key Award, the highest honor ASAE bestows, to "honor the association CEO who demonstrates exceptional qualities of leadership in his or her own association, and displays a deep commitment to voluntary membership organizations as a whole.”

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